Well you also need to play the project card for committing to renewables. This card will (slowly) get the regions energy to come from renewables, and those research improvements speed up the process. It is actually a God send, but Fusion is better :P

"There's an acquire card for each technology in the game. Playing these cards allows the region to get access to a technology that's been discovered elsewhere. Acquire cards work by essentially making the region's research strand value become the value required for the technology; Acquire Quantum Computing, for example, gives the region 2090 points in infotech research. However, technologies must be acquired in order; a region that has less than 2030 points of infotech research would need to first acquire smart grids then quantum computing." - Source: Fate of the World Wikia

Each of these makes them quicker to switch to renewable (or raises the energy out I forgot). If your looking to share these techs follow them up by commite to renewables. This tactic is great if you quickly lowered coal usuage. You will find you run out of oil quick and then have to switch to gas. Before you can get your solar collector up you will need to rely on renewables. This is what makes sharing those renewable cards so powerful. Otherwise you will find yourself crashing the economy and not having enough money to finish.